Parkway Day Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are friendly and make children, parents and visitors feel warmly welcome at the nursery. They take the time to get to know how to help children to settle and feel at ease to be ready to learn. The curriculum is ambitious. Staff nurture children to develop the right skills to equip them as they transition through the nursery. They are knowledgeable about what their key children know and can do. Staff plan for children's next steps in learning appropriately. All children make good progress.

Children show they are happy and enjoy interacting with staff and their peers. Children in the pre-school room enjoy looking at photos that they share from home. They excitedly answer questions which interested staff ask them about photos of their holidays and days out. Children giggle as they learn to recall events and share stories. Staff plan experiences that capture children's interests well. They enable children to embed new learning well, while developing their confidence as they feel safe to express their views and ideas.

From a young age, staff support children to develop positive behaviours. They provide consistent messages to children to remind them to do 'good sitting', use their 'kind hands' and to switch their 'listening ears' on. Children immediately know to follow these instructions. They enjoy making a sound to show their ears are ready for listening. Children follow these instructions well. They develop positive attitudes towards one another and their learning.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Leaders have a clear and ambitious vision for the nursery. They constantly reflect and strive to deliver high-quality care and education. Leaders value staff, including their well-being and professional development. They create a supportive culture. Leaders share their commitment to ensuring that all children receive the best start to their early education with all staff. Staff receive focused supervision sessions and training opportunities to make sure their knowledge is current.
• Care and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are a key strength in the nursery. Staff attend regular meetings with other agencies, and share targets and information about the progress that children make. Staff make good use of funding to help to support children's individual needs. For example, they provide a designated room for children to have a quiet and calm space, when things get too much for them. This supports children's emotional needs very well.
• Staff place a strong emphasis on supporting children's communication and language skills. Overall, staff read to children and encourage them to interact with the story. Children demonstrate confidence to share what they remember while reading and staff support them to make links in their learning. However, at times, the organisation of some group times means that younger children are easily distracted and does not support all children to be engaged in their learning.
• The manager and staff implement and design a well-sequenced curriculum to support the unique ways that children learn. Staff get to know every child very well. They carry out regular observations and assessments of children to identify what they know and can do. Staff use their thorough knowledge of children's interests and stages of development to plan and provide varied and exciting activities that challenge their learning. This supports children to make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff that work with the youngest babies support their early physical development well. They plan opportunities for babies to have tummy time. This helps to strengthen babies' muscles in preparation for independent sitting. Staff place themselves at children's eye level to offer gentle encouragement. They extend activities to encourage children to explore with natural resources. Children giggle when they see themselves in the mirror.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to extend and consolidate their learning across most areas. For instance, they repeat activities, such as cutting and gaining confidence in manipulating scissors. Children are proud that they are able to complete the task and remember the details. However, at times, staff do not maximise opportunities to extend older children's understanding of mathematical concepts.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength of the nursery. Parents receive regular updates from staff about their child's care and learning through daily handovers and an online app. This helps to provide continuity for children between the nursery and at home. Parents speak highly about the nursery. They comment on the progress their children make in the 'loving and caring nursery' and say staff 'give their all to the children'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the organisation of group activities to ensure that all children are able to access the learning
• plan more effectively for the most able children to help them to make the very best possible progress in their mathematical development.